The service industry and the aging population: marketing opportunities in a dynamic environment

The care of the elderly is a growing problem. Existing services are inadequate for the needs of an aging population. In order to suggest new services to deal with the care of the elderly, this report examined four areas: the demographic characteristics of our aging society, the nature of services in general, services provided to the elderly population, and the application of role theory to the caregiver/care recipient dyad. Role theory identified conflicts felt by both the caregiver and care recipient. These conflicts were explored in three sets of focus group interviews: women 65 years old and older, women familiar with the experience of primary caregiver, and women between the ages of 23 and 42 (the age range representative of the Baby Boom cohort). Information from these interviews was used to understand both current and future perceptions of the elderly and of the role of caregivers in this society and what services they perceive are necessary for the elderly to function independently in this society.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business Administration (Marketing)

Department dc:contributor.department

Business Administration (Marketing)

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1988

Author dc:creator

• Hinson, Cathy Creed

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Littlefield, James L.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Ozanne, Julie L.
• Brown, James R.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-10132010-020039

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/45155